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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26376727">Happy birthday Ethari you amazing elf</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wunderlost/pseuds/Wunderlost'>Wunderlost</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>3rd person of course, Canon Relationships, Established Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Ethari’s birthday, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Happy birthday Ethari, Headcanon: Rayla is so-so at drawing but tries her best, Moonshadow Elves (The Dragon Prince), POV Rayla, Rayllum Birthday Bash (The Dragon Prince), Rayllum banter, Runaan is mentioned but not actually there, Silvergrove (The Dragon Prince), The Dragon Prince S3 spoilers, Xadia (The Dragon Prince), because they have such a great dynamic, headcanons, mostly canon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 08:02:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,002</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26376727</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wunderlost/pseuds/Wunderlost</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Post S3, Rayla and Callum go and meet Ethari to celebrate his birthday with him but run into some problems, some accounted for but some unexpected. Lots of lighthearted banter but gets angsty at times.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Callum &amp; Ethari &amp; Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Callum &amp; Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Ethari &amp; Rayla &amp; Runaan (The Dragon Prince), Ethari &amp; Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Ethari &amp; Runaan (The Dragon Prince), Rayla &amp; Runaan (The Dragon Prince)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>32</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Happy birthday Ethari you amazing elf</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I just love Rayla and Callum’s dynamic Ethari’s birthday just passed so this was birthed. I’m pretty happy with the dialogue so I hope you enjoy it as well!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Hurry up Callum!” called Rayla as she sprinted across the grassy field, fluffy Adoraburrs bouncing out of the longer grass blades as her feet made contact with the soil.</p><p>“I’m coming, I’m coming. Give me a second to catch my breath.” Callum gasped, clutching his knees. </p><p>Rayla stopped, glanced back and made her way over, sitting down on a rock beside him and giving him a playful punch. “You alright dummy? Don’t want you dying before we even make it to Ethari’s place.” </p><p>“Oh ha ha.” Callum looked up at Rayla, flashing a painful grin, “If I were to die you’d be a mess.” </p><p>“Sure but not as much of a mess as you.” she smirked back. </p><p>“Touché.” </p><p>Rayla leapt up from the rock, stretching out her arms. The sun hovered on the horizon, sky splashed with pinks and oranges as the chirping birds greeted the waking sun. With a furtive glance at its rising, Rayla sighed and offered Callum her hand, who took it with appreciation. “We have to get going or else we’re not gonna make it in time.” she said, gesturing to the path ahead before dragging him along with her, taking no notice of his groans and mumbling. </p><p>“Look, Rayla, I get you’re excited to celebrate his birthday with him but the sun’s not even fully up yet, we have plenty of time.” </p><p>Rayla stopped again, letting go of his hand and frowning. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry Callum, just got too caught up. I- I’ve just really missed him.”</p><p>Callum let out a huge sigh and grinned before grabbing her hand and dashing into the field. “C’mon Rayla let’s go meet Ethari.” </p><p>——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————</p><p>Thoughts of the dance still swimming in her mind, Rayla beamed at Callum as they stood at the oaken entrance leading into Ethari’s home. “These were carved by Runaan and Ethari before I even lived with them,” she explained, tracing the intricate dents in the door, “The words are ancient Draconic but Ethari still hasn’t told me what they mean, even though he promised to after I returned from that mission.” Callum raised his eyebrows, prompting her to quickly add, “Well, which didn’t turn out the way anyone expected  but hey, promises are promises.”, her mouth curving into a sheepish grin.</p><p>“Well maybe he’ll tell you later.” </p><p>“I seriously doubt so.” </p><p>Rayla took a deep breath before barging into the place -followed closely by Callum- and halting in her tracks at the sight of Ethari’s back hunched over his work table across the room. The elf was draped in dark blue silk, shimmering as the beads caught the sunlight that streamed in from the windows. A violet scarf hung loosely from his neck and his snowy hair boasted speckles of silver, most likely from whatever weapon he was forging. </p><p>“Hey Ethari!” Rayla sang, almost bouncing with joy. </p><p>The statement was met with silence, apart from the metallic twang of mallet against steel. A pang of hurt struck her chest. Right. Banished. How could such an important situation slip her mind. Somehow, she came here with some wild fantasy of everything returning to normal and being accepted home again. How could she be so stupid? Her head began to swirl with uneasiness as she bit back a bitter laugh. She felt a hand on her shoulder, it’s firm grip grounding her as she turned around to face Callum, who stared back at her, his steady gaze strangely comforting. </p><p>“Hey Rayla, you knew this would happen right?” he began. </p><p>“Yeah. But I had hoped the dragon queen un-banished me or some stupid thing like that.” Rayla sighed, slumping onto the ground. </p><p>“-That’s why,” Callum continued, “ I brought hand mirrors. That way we’ll be able to see him.” He reached into his rucksack and rummaged for a bit before pulling out two slender pocket mirrors. </p><p>“Callum!” </p><p>Rayla stood up and pulled him into a tight embrace, who after flailing a little, returned the gesture. After a bit, the two pulled away and stared fondly at the other. </p><p>“Thanks for the thought but Ethari has a big mirror we can use.”  </p><p>“AaHh well!” stammered Callum snapping back into reality, “We better go make Ethari aware of our presence.” </p><p>“Good idea genius.” </p><p>“Thanks, I appreciate it.” </p><p>Rayla walked over to Ethari’s side, unable to stop the tinge of sadness as she saw his blurred out face. Facing the tall mirror he had at the side of his desk and holding a hand mirror up in front of her for good measure, she waved frantically with her free hand, trying to get his attention. Ethari looked absently up from his work, his jaw dropping with surprise as he saw the reflection of a wildly flailing Rayla. </p><p>“Rayla?” he exclaimed, rapidly turning to face the mirror. A red scarf poked out the side of the looking glass. “And your little strange human friend?” he added, bewildered. Despite the surprised look on his face, Rayla detected a fond twinkle in his eye, a look that she somehow always found herself searching for- albeit subconsciously for the most part. Ethari’s mouth curved upwards, Rayla matching his expression almost instantly. Oh, right. She walked over to Callum and dragged him over to stand beside her before making eye contact with Ethari and taking Callum’s hand into hers. The man’s eyes widened, Rayla secretly enjoying his reaction that rivalled Callum’s beetroot-esque face. </p><p>“Rayla you-” the elf began before cutting himself off,”You know what I’ll address this some other time. What are you doing here?” </p><p>Lowering the hand elevating her mirror, Rayla turned to face Callum. “Hey pass me your sketchbook.”</p><p>“My what?!”</p><p>“Just do it.”</p><p>Hesitantly, Callum reaches into his satchel, wincing slightly as he pictured Ethari’s beady eyes following his movements through the mirror. He took out a tattered leather-bound book and handed it to Rayla. “Please don’t set it on fire.”</p><p>“I’m not the mage here.” she teased, flipping to an empty page and scrawling on it with a piece of graphite. She sensed Callum looking over her shoulder nervously and rolled her eyes, “Relax you’ll see in a bit.” With one last dramatic flourish, she raised the sketchbook so that it faced the mirror, once again lifting up her own. </p><p>Ethari’s eyes widened again before he allowed a smile to take over. On the face of the page was a messy drawing of a big birthday cake, four candles towering from its body. Behind it, a scramble of faded contour lines and three stick figures, two of them boasting horns and the one in the centre wearing a long scarf. </p><p>Rayla put her hands on her hips with a satisfied look on her face, Callum giving her an obliging thumbs up.</p><p>“Should we try singing Happy Birthday?” Callum suggested.</p><p>“Are you an idiot?” </p><p>“...”</p><p>“Fine, why not.”</p><p>The duo then burst into a lively rendition of the birthday song, opening their mouths exaggeratedly, as if to ease Ethari’s lip reading. With the final ‘Happy birthday to you’ Ethari clapped his hands, looking as if he were stifling an escaping laugh as Rayla bent into a mock bow. He seemed far more relaxed, the tension of his earlier stance easing. She looked at him wistfully. It had been forever since she heard him laugh like that. </p><p>“I think that’s quite enough, communicating like this.” Ethari chuckled softly. “I can break that spell again but we won’t have long- possibly 15 minutes.” </p><p>He walked swiftly out of the room, returning just as Rayla was about to go after him with a plate of a familiar dessert. </p><p>“Oh my Dragons,” Rayla stood, stunned at the sight of the delicacy, her hand reaching to clutch Callum’s shoulder, “That’s it Callum. That's a moonberry surprise.”</p><p>“Oh wow!” Callum started, brimming with intrigue. </p><p>Rayla gaped at the platter in Ethari’s hands. Yes, it was her favourite dessert. Yes, her guardian knew it but more importantly- it was Runaan’s specialty. Something he had baked for them every time a birthday came around, without fail. A tear rolled down her cheek. She hurriedly wiped it away, recollecting herself. Glancing at Callum, she was relieved to find that he was too engrossed in looking at the Moonberry surprise to notice her crying. Ethari however, was facing his mirror and even though she couldn’t see his face, she knew that her response had not been missed from his watchful apprehension. She grimaced. She wasn’t ready to face that again. Not now. Not today. </p><p>Ethari walked over to Rayla, taking her hand in his as a blue shimmer flooded their surroundings, enveloping everything within sight and fading away just as quickly, revealing the ghosted pair to him. </p><p>At the millisecond Ethari’s face was in sight, Rayla flung herself towards him, throwing her arms around his neck and burying her head into his silken scarf. Ethari put down the plate before wrapping her in his own, his calloused hand covering her head, with fingers woven into her snowy hair. </p><p>“Um hello from me too!” Callum said waving at Ethari with a two-finger salute before displaying a panicked smile and shoving his hands into his non-existent pockets. “Trees to meet you again?”  </p><p>“Er, trees to meet you too.” </p><p>“Cool, cool.”</p><p>Rayla released herself from the hug, beaming at Ethari. “Happy Birthday!” </p><p>“Thank you my little blade,” he said, ruffling her hair, “Oh how I’ve missed your voice.” He stepped back and took up the plate of moonberry surprise. “Let’s take this to the courtyard shall we?” </p><p>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p>Rayla sat beside Ethari as they both gazed into the water of the fountain. She brushed away crumbs from her mouth. By the time Callum returned from his trip to the bathroom the spell would have already worn away. </p><p>“Hey Rayla?” Ethari said, breaking Rayla’s train of thought, ”I just wanted to say, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for ever doubting you and for,” he gestured to her, “-this mess you’re in. I should have said something, anything. If it meant stopping you from being ghosted. I was just… so heartbroken. It felt like I had lost the two most important people in my life. It made me lose myself as well.” His eyes shimmered with a thin coat of clear liquid. “I have been a horrib-”</p><p>“Shut up.”</p><p>“What?” Ethari shifted to face her, shock overtaking his collected features.</p><p>“I said, shut up.” Rayla glared at him, “It was not. Not your fault. If anything, it was mine. I left him alone. I fought him. I abandoned him.” she bit her lip, a rush of indistinguishable emotions surging through her body. </p><p>“You saved Xadia.” he said slowly, “Even though the cost was high, you saved us all. Thank you Rayla.” </p><p>Rayla looked at him in surprise, her face transitioning to one of gratitude. “Hey it’s your birthday isn’t it? Promise me you won’t think about gloomy thoughts on your special day.”</p><p>“I promise my little elfling.” </p><p>Ethari sighed. “I can feel the spell fading. Come visit me again alright? I’ll work hard to get stronger so we can talk longer the next time.” he pulled Rayla into another hug. “ One more thing. Thank you for coming. It was the best birthday gift I could ever have asked for. I love you Rayla. So, so much.”</p><p>As Rayla opened her mouth to respond, Ethari’s face blurred out once more, his nose, eyes and mouth melting into his skin. She took up a stone and flung it into the water in frustration. More than anything, she wanted to tell him she loved him back. </p><p>Little did she know that he knew. He knew it deep inside his soul and it kept him going. Every single day. </p><p>In the distance, she saw Callum waving at her. “Come on Rayla, we should get going if we want to make it before the darkness falls.”</p><p>Rayla gazed back upon the single lotus floating in the water before turning and following Callum out of the courtyard, completely unaware of the half submerged flower illuminating the depths.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hope you enjoyed it, constructive criticism is appreciated :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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